Winds greater than 100 miles per hour are more common in the Bainer Hall Courtyard than one would think. The area is not an F3 tornado breeding ground though -- it is the home of the campus Aeronautical Wind Tunnel. Installed in 1997, the AWT uses a 125-horsepower motor to produce a maximum velocity of 165 mph within a 2.8-by-4-foot chamber. UC Davis is one of two UC campuses, along with UCLA, to have an AWT of such size. Faculty and students in mechanical and aeronautical engineering use the tunnel for research, and Case van Dam, above, teaches a graduate course that also utilizes the tunnel. Current research projects include testing airfoils used for advanced wind turbine blades, but the AWT has other work ahead of it. "We are gearing up for several experiments in support of wind energy research funded by the U.S Department of Energy," said van Dam, who oversees the machine.